To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day,thou cans’t not then be false to any man[one].— William Shakespeare, Hamlet

THE SHORTEST DAYS—AND LONGEST NIGHTS—OF THE YEARARE HERE NOW

Capricorn people are born—in the Northern Hemisphere at least—at the darkest and coldest time of the year. We know that from now on the days will begin to get longer but that’s not going to happen instantly. We know that summer will return again but that doesn’t help us one bit right now if we walk out the front door without a warm coat on. This is the time when we have to summon our strength to make it through the winter. Capricorn, the Winter Solstice—and Christmas—arrive on the heels of Sagittarius’ exit from the zodiac stage. The huge thrust of Sagittarius’ flying arrow finds its mark around the time we celebrate Christmas. How we handled the expansiveness of Sagittarius is sure to show up now. If we’ve over-done it, we might find our waistlines a little too expanded and our pocketbooks a little too slim. Presents strewn across the floor…did we get what we really wanted…needed? Maybe… Did we give from our true feelings toward others or out of guilt, obligation or to impress? Did the arrow find its mark? Reality check.

FACE TO FACE WITH THE SECOND STEP… We once had a cartoon that stayed on our fridge door for a very long time. It showed a small man climbing a staircase. The first step of the staircase, where he was standing was very low; but the second step, which he now faced, was about two or three times as high as the first—and higher than the man himself who stood with a most forlorn look on its face. This is where commitment comes in… It’s easy to feel forlorn in the time of Capricorn. It’s possible that Sagittarian leaps of faith have landed us in a predicament of some kind. We seem to have gotten into a bind. We’re out on a limb or have painted ourselves into a corner somehow. What to do now… We’re “Face to face with the second step…”

In order to finish what we’ve started we’re going to have to grow in a new and unfamiliar way. Yes, we instinctively knew that this could happen. Rats! That’s exactly why so many of us opt out when it comes to taking leaps of faith. We really don’t want anyone saying, “I told you so, yadah, yadah yadah…” But here it is and we are on our own… Maybe it’s time for a New Year’s resolution…or at any rate, some form of disciplined, committed approach will likely work well.

ENTER THE SEA-GOATThe Sea-goat — unlikely creature! Can’t walk on land or swim in water. Either our ancestors were out of their ever-lovin’ minds when they devised this symbol or there’s something here to be unraveled.

Let’s try it—starting with the fish’s tail first.

Fishes live in water—the ocean being the primal waters—this suggests the idea of going down into the depths. In terms of conscious awareness, we think of the depths as being the subliminal part of ourselves. We usually think of penetrating its depths as a way to better understand ourselves, to gain self-knowledge, and wisdom.

Ok, so then there’s the goat’s front half…

hmm…Goats climb… They’re about the most sure-footed of all the animals on the highest, steepest mountain crags. So it seems that there’s something here about going from the deepest ocean depths to scaling the highest peaks. This implies, achievement and also becoming visible; maybe even putting to use and/or offering back what has been discovered and learned during time spent soul-searching and from experience.

MAKING PEACE WITH SOLITUDE

The Hermit is an important part of this archetype. When we come out of our Mother’s womb into this world, much as the bar code folks might want it, we don’t come with a label. There’s no tag on foot, arm or ear to tell us, “This one’s destined to be a great Doctor,” “This one’s going to fail miserably at being a lawyer,” or “This one is going to travel to other planets.” No, it’s up to us to decide for ourselves what path we’ll take in life. Parents are meant to be helpful and they can be, but they can also be just as unhelpful, loading us down with all kinds of expectations and unrealistic standards to live up to.

What do we feel inside ourselves? Whom, in spite of what everyone else says, do we know ourselves to be? This is Capricorn’s first task. Capricorn can never come to terms with it’s feelings by listening only to what other people say. In reality nobody does because, to find ourselves and to stay in touch with ourselves, we need some time alone. We need to think and feel our own thoughts. Even if other people are right about us, we still have to live our own lives. Scary as it is to be alone, living life isn’t something that someone else can do for us even though they might try. Capricorn has to get to know itself. This is the foundation for everything that Capricorn is here to accomplish — and rest assured, Capricorn is here to accomplish something.

One of the ancient archetypes for Capricorn is the Wizard, Mage or Shaman. In times long gone by, it seems that communities relied on the wisdom and power of the Mage to lead them. But what exactly is it that Wizards do? Fly about on great eagles? Change the weather at will? Turn their enemies into frogs? Why would they want to—or need to? I think the word “Sorcerer” is a helpful one here.

Sorcerers, to put it very simply, know how to draw on the Source for wisdom and power, for how to live life.

If we don’t deny it, we’re born knowing who we are. We’re born knowing what we must do. We know we’ve come here for a purpose. To find the Source, we just have to turn inward and draw from the well of self-experience but we also have to apply our self-knowledge to the world we live in. Capricorn has to make its inner vision physical. Capricorn is not just kidding around. Capricorn is here to succeed—for better or for worse.

Capricorn is just as prone to pessimism as Sagittarius is prone to optimism. Sagittarius seems to have opportunities galore knocking on its door—all it needs to do is grab one; but stand in Capricorn’s shoes, and it can seem that all opportunity and support has vanished into thin air. It’s easier to feel optimistic about a possible outcome when a clear risk is involved and the outcome is uncertain than it is to know you have a long, difficult road ahead, that you just have to travel step by step.

Capricorn can so clearly see the problems involved trying to live its dream that it can be tempted to fall back on accepting whatever society has offered as the standard route through life and opt out its dreams; but that’s obviously not what’s really meant to happen.

Imagine trying to win a chess game with a “standard game plan…” Capi must learn adaptability in order to win its game. If you can’t climb Olympus Mons from one side, try another. (Olympus Mons, is a mountain on Mars, four times higher than Everest.) Approaching from the North face where an expedition landed revealed a sheer drop of of thousands of feet; but it turns out the South face has a smooth incline all the way to the top… (Reading this over, I have no idea now where I got this information. Sounds like I was channeling something from the future—or Star Trek, more likely! But it is a good example for taking the alternate route.)

You can’t see reality clearly if you suppress your feelings, but you can’t see clearly if you’re swamped by them either. Capricorn naturally knows how to delay gratification and to use self-discipline. How is this done?

Very carefully!

This has to be one of the most difficult things for human beings but, as any truly successful person can tell you, if we can use self-discipline correctly, we can accomplish just about anything we choose to. For Capricorn to lay its feelings aside, it does run the risk of suppressing feeling. That will, of course, only lead to the shadow side of the archetype, but one way or another, Capricorn will end up succeeding, for better or for worse because resolution is in its nature. Giving up is not an option for this sign.

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.— Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784)

My Father was very fond of the saying,Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

In other words, “Genius” or “Wizardry,” if you will, is not what we often fantasize it to be. How to get exactly what we want out of life? For sure it takes hard work and discipline; but without the inspiration, albeit only one percent, ya ain’t gonna make it. The spark of knowing our true destiny, of being in touch with our Source has to be there. Capricorn is born knowing about these things. Knowing the delicate dance of power, of matching the inside and the outside so as to accomplish something great in the world. Capricorn has a dream that it must fulfill; however as Carolyn Myss says,

The gods never take out a room at the Ritz.

Myss here is referring to that very familiar icon for this time of year, the Babe in the Manger, which is, as she puts it, “a high voltage image.” She goes on to explain that things that have real power aren’t dependent on acclaim and praise from without. They run on that little spark of real inspiration from within. The gods ask us to be willing to do the ninety-nine percent hard work of doing whatever it is that has to be done to nurture that spark. Jealous Kings and conniving political figures can have center stage. The true work of following destiny is best done without pomp and fanfare; knowing that in the end, what has true power will always succeed.

During this time each year is when the Dying God of Paganism (Jesus in Christianity) is reborn from the womb of the Great Goddess (Mother Mary in Christianity). The seed with the germ of life in it always begins small and then grows. One seed—one spark—is all that’s needed; and just like the light gradually returning to the world after the winter darkness, Capricorn will be visible soon enough…

Among musicians there’s a joke about having to work for fifteen or twenty years (longer for many) to become “an overnight success.” Musician, Bill Edwards, in his guitar instruction book, “Fretboard Logic II,” offers this advice:

As a performer, everyone strives for virtuosity. In the absence of this, we’ll settle for speed. …When learning a piece, only play it as fast as you can play it with absolutely no errors. When rehearsing or performing, only play it as fast as you can play it with absolutely no errors…

This is straight out of the book of Capricorn, so to speak. Capricorn is here to build or achieve something of the highest level of quality from a place of total integrity—step by step.

STRIKING A BARGAIN WITH REALITY—THE ALTERNATE ROUTE

Try not to become a man [person] of successbut rather to become a man [person] of value.— Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Something that just seems to happen when dreams are being built, is that they reach a point at which they have to strike a bargain with reality. The kid who aspires to be a Pop star will have to do the work of getting there. Capricorn knows this well. Along the way, the original vision will not likely appear in the physical world exactly as it did in our imagination.

This is, once again, where Capi has to stay in touch with the spark. Outer form can change as long as the essence is there. Glorious dreams of standing on stage with hordes of wildly screaming fans could end up instead as teaching music and playing late night gigs on the side—and being fulfilled by that. Aspiring to paint a perfect photographic image may not produce what the artist actually feels and has led many an artist into the weird, unpredictable realm of expressing the feeling of the object instead.

This is when the dreamer is tested. Will s/he continue to follow the dream when reality seems to be against her/him? I’ve heard that something like ninety percent of new businesses fail within the first five years. Translating the dream into reality—getting past that second step—isn’t so easy.

Turning up your nose at a bowl of brown rice and vegies when you’re hungry just because filé mignon isn’t available is a sign of immaturity—but Capricorn is the sign of the Elder. Capricorn deals with—remember?—the second step, laying wishful thinking aside and doing whatever it is you need to do to continue in the direction of your dream. Accepting “what is,” can take the dreamer to the next phase of manifestation and the next and the next… Capricorn knows this and just quietly keeps going… Food is food.

ENVYING SUCCESS…

Most of us have envied someone who has achieved the success that we want. I’ve watched the flocks of ducks during the winter, envying them their mastery of flight. But soon after Bald Eagles showed up and began to hunt them that I started understanding the exact reason for their success. If they’d never had any predators, they probably would never have bothered to leave the ground… Success comes at a price, a price that the Seagoat needs to be willing to pay. Some Evolutionary astrologers feel that with this sign there’s a haunting sense of having not having been successful in some way in a former/parallel incarnation and so they’re here to do that now.

In dreams, everything can be pictured in a moment. In reality, what was pictured in a moment can take years and years (maybe lifetimes?) to accomplish. Making the step—and continuing to make the steps from concept to manifestation—is what Capricorn is all about.

Although, in a way, Capricorn doesn’t care how long things take! Capricorn is resolute. It will do what it has to do. There’s a story about Russian seed savers that I once heard. They were in a city that was under siege (by the Germans perhaps?) They knew the value of that seed and they were resolutely dedicated to their purpose. Their bodies were eventually found frozen to death over the bags of grains that they could have chosen to eat.

Could you call this “failure?”Or a profound success?A fulfillment of destiny?

Success means using all of the time available to us in the most efficient way—and accepting the limits of time as well. Not giving up on being true to ourselves.

But at the same time, to translate a dream into the real world does involve working with time. Capi is naturally good at problem solving. What a formidable sign! It has a nose for sniffing out all the problem areas in a proposed idea or project. A lot of this is connected to time. I once heard an astrologer say, “Imagine a Capricorn who doesn’t know what time it is!”

Yes, really!

Capricorn is here to efficiently and effectively achieve it goals. Time is a precious gift and Capricorn is definitely not here to waste it. The gift of time is the medium through which it can achieve what it wants. Perhaps no other sign knows better the importance of timing. It knows that, “Time and tide wait for no one.” It knows that if you don’t do what you came here to do, it probably won’t get done and it knows that if your timing is off, it may not happen either.

TIMING…

I once watched an Osprey from the shores of Russian Lake in Northern California. It spent many hours perched on certain tree branches that gave it prime visibility of what went on in the water below. It would wait and wait… until the exact moment a fish rose to the surface when it would plunge downward, talons extended. It had to make a lot of unsuccessful dives too. A local fisherman told us, “When the Osprey catches a fish, I know it’s a good day for me too.” Capricorn’s patient self-discipline, reality-testing ability and resolute nature give it an awesome and spectacular sense of timing like the Osprey’s.

The Seagoat has a natural respect for, and ability to manage, physical resources too. Physical resources, including money, of course, are the medium for the creation of its dreams and for building the structure that allows its precious intention to prosper. It abhors inefficiency and naturally focuses toward being effective. And unless it has fallen prey to cynicism, Capricorn will push its dream to full manifestation, no matter what. If opportunities aren’t available, Seagoat will find or create them or wait until they come.No matter.

We are made to persist. That’s how we find out who we are.— Tobias Wolf, In Pharaoh’s Army

Capricorn has a hilarious sense of humour too—a very dry, ironical and understated way of just pointing out what’s not working—very saturnine, you could say. (Saturn being the planet associated with Capricorn, that makes sense…) When you’re so good at seeing how to do things effectively, I guess a lot of the world must look pretty funny to you trying to do things up-side-down.

POWER WITH OR POWER OVER?

Taking a break from a seminar in Las Vegas one broiling afternoon in June, I sat out under a palm tree across from a gargantuan statue of Elvis. A plaque commemorated him by telling how many of his recordings have been sold. According to the Guiness World Record Book, “In the year 2000, 23 years after he died of a heart attack, Elvis Presley earned $35 million (Ł25 million.) Since he first launched his recording career, Elvis has sold more than one billion albums.” But I couldn’t help wondering, “How could someone so successful end up being so unhappy?”

In her book The Spiral Dance, Starhawk, so intelligently introduces the twin concepts of “power with” and “power over.”

What does this mean? Well, to me in terms of the sign of Capricorn, it has to do with whether or not a Capricorn really does, in fact, go back to the source to find its spark or not. Capricorn is programmed for success either way but the question is, will Capricorn try to hang on to the power or will the power flow through Capricorn? Will Capricorn be playing for the crowd or for her/himself? Ideally, it should be both but sometimes, on the bleakest possible end of things, as in the case of Capricorns like Elvis Presley or Richard Nixon (“Nobody wants a crooked Dick”) or Joseph Stalin, they end up just playing for power.

Power is like water, meant to flow freely. It’s not meant to get stuck—and stagnant—in one place with one person or group. It should be for the benefit of all.

Paganism understood this well. It’s Dying God didn’t represent actual death, but non-attachment to power. When Capricorn chooses to have “power with (the whole)” then power can flow through it unimpeded and on out to others who need it too. In this case society is properly organized along lines through which everyone benefits. Capricorn is meant to be the trustee of power for the good of the whole (self included); and, obviously, without integrity, this just won’t go right.

When Capricorn lives for outer achievement alone, it winds up spiritually bankrupt, even though it might have billions in the bank and acclaim from every direction. In this case, isolated and the puppet of public opinion and special interests, Capricorn can end up to be the loneliest and bitterest of creatures. Success that is enslaved to outer approval and without inner connection has to be the emptiest, most disappointing experience of all. When this happens, Capricorn falls back on those closest to it demanding dogged loyalty and abject submission; but the inner void cannot be filled this way either. Healing solitude or bitter loneliness—there’s a big difference.

What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morningand goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.—Bob Dylan (1941 - )

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that’s nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.—Helen Hayes (1900 - 1933)

I’ll end with an example of Capricornian success—a woman you know of, Michelle Obama, who has been a great inspiration to me.

Michelle was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois. I wasn’t able to find a birth time but nevertheless she’s a great positive example of the best traits of Capricorn.

This is a woman who, through the outrageous intensity of what it must be to live and be a wife in the White House, has kept her focus on real values. And I feel it’s her focus on the basic issues of being human that have helped shepherd her family (and the nation which so much affects the entire world) in a positive direction during these past eight years.

Back in September of 2008 I wrote an analysis of Barack Obama’s chart in my newsletter. From studying his chart it seemed obvious to me that his success or failure as a President, would be based on his relationship to his wife and family.

Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote at that time:

…I’m looking at Barack’s chart, criss-crossed with lots of aspect lines. A lot of themseem to be connected to the Moon in ways that stand out. So…?

MOON AS SYMBOL — THE DEEP INNER SELF

Moon symbolism in most astrological systems, represents soul or emotion. Justlike the Moon in the sky, it represents our ability to reflect; also to nurture and respond,empathize and protect. These are parts of us that can’t be worn on our sleeve. They need to be safely contained just like water. And just like water too, if we’re not careful, we can drown in our feelings and get lost in our moods—or, worst of all, shut down to our feelings, numb out, and go through life like a zombie. Someone with a healthy Moon energy will have sparkling, effervescent emotions that flow in smooth mood changes. They’ll have clear boundaries, take good care of themselves and be nurturing and responsive to others. On a more mundane level, the Moon becomes a symbol of the Mother.

So then, Barack, with the Moon so prominent in his chart is likely a person workingto master emotion—but specifically, emotion as connected to issues of communication the area of the deep personal self and in regard to home life, his Mother, his family roots as well as extended family, be they blood ties or spiritual ties. With his Moon in Gemini, he’s very deeply connected emotionally—for better of for worse—to the issues of communication with and about those people.

Enter Pluto, god of the Underworld, stage right…

Barack’s Moon is in an aspect of direct, unavoidable conflict with this planet of destiny in his Seventh House of Marriage in the “get it right” sign of Virgo. Along with letting us know what our high destiny is, Pluto also tells us where and what is the cause of our most deeply hidden pain. Barack’s wounds are caused by a failure of those responsible for teaching him the skills of relationship. This is a very highly charged issue for him that’s impossible to avoid—and along with it, the call to a high destiny of service in resolving conflicts with family and establishing trust with a partner; also in acting as a mediator between individuals or groups of people involved in serious conflicts.

That can’t be too easy… And obviously, you can’t do that sort of thing if you aren’t dealing properly with your own inner conflicts…

One further note on Barack Obama’s chart: From the perspective of Evolutionary astrology, the symbols indicate that he already has had opportunities in a past/parallel life (however you see these things) to bring many diverse people and opinions together as he has done now, but there’s an implication that he may have failed due to not drawing enough support from his intimate relationships, so this is the challenge he faces in this incarnation.

Michelle and Barack sat hand in hand for the entire interview, sharing the conversation in a most beautiful way. And I have to point out that there have been no scandals associated with this Presidency!

With her statuesque figure and stunning clothing, not to mention her poise and self confidence, Michelle certainly seems to be the woman who satisfies her Man! The focus of the interview for both of them was each other as well as their daughters, and Michelle’s Mother, rather than politics. (Michelle said she doesn’t follow “the [political] issues.”) Barack talked about how his family helped him keep his sanity through many intense moments of the past years. It’s obvious that their success is both/all of their success.

Michelle talked about her slogan for dealing with low blows from the opposition: "When they go low, we go high."

A strategy the has worked remarkably well, wouldn’t you say?

And as you probably know, following in a lineage of First Ladies’ gardens, Michelle started the largest White House garden planted yet on the South lawn. It was for her family of course, but included all of us in promoting healthy living and address the epidemic of childhood obesity.

Quoting Wikipedia… …Project facilitator Michelle Obama has made the vegetable garden a priority by requiring hands on assistance from all the family members.[1] In May 2012, the First Lady published American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, a book detailing her experiences with the Kitchen Garden and promoting healthy eating.[14] …The White House’s Executive Chef Walter Scheib is enthusiastic about the fresh ingredients and states, "There has always been a small garden at the White House, but this commitment by Mrs. Obama to a local and freshly grown product is a progressive move forward that will raise the profile and awareness of local and sustainable food both at the White House and nationally to an unprecedented level.”[1] Michelle Obama and chef Sam Kass plant the garden with the help of Bancroft Elementary School fifth graders in 2009.

“The South Lawn vegetables, fruits, and herbs inspire people across the country to eat locally, mindfully and healthfully,” said George Ball, chairman and CEO of the W. Atlee Burpee Company.

"My husband will tell you one of the most frequent questions he gets from world leaders is, 'How's your wife's garden?'" Michelle Obama said Wednesday.

And as my Father might have said……the light that shines the farthest, shines the brightest from home.

My point here is not that we should all be gaga over Michelle Obama but that she is a great example of what we all can do. It’s very easy to leave ourselves out of the equation of “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if we don’t truly value ourselves, it won’t be possible to love any other.

Michelle Obama is a shining example of the Seagoat’s positive message.

You thought, as a boy, that a mage is one who can do anything. So I thought, once. So did we all. And the truth is that as a man’s [woman’s] real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower: until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do.—Ursula K. LeGuin, from A Wizard of Earthsea

This photo was taken the year that we lived in the Czech Republic for five months, just downhill from the Karlstejn Castle—and nearly froze to death—no kidding! The meaning of the return of the Sun King to Light the World, was vividly clear to us that year!

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

LAST NIGHT…

I dreamed my Mother visited me. You know how dreams are. They’re…well…different. She came as a Robin and sat next to me on the branch, as I was a Robin too. I knew why she came.

I completely agree with Dream Teacher, Robert Moss, when he says that each of us is the final authority on the interpretation of our dreams. He admonishes us when giving feedback to anyone else about their dream to first say, “If it were my dream…”

My destiny is entangled with my Mother’s in a way I have yet to completely understand. I’ve heard statistics that say many people die within a day or so of their Birthday, men, often a little before and women, more often, a little after. And that the highest number of people die during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Perhaps it’s the easiest time to slip away into the (by us) Unseen Realm, as the light is waning…

My Mother died the day after my Birthday. I knew why she came last night. Robin — what better symbol of hope, than the first bird to arrive in the spring!

I went out to watch the sunrise this morning. I was expecting actually, not to see it come up as it looked very cloudy toward Mt. Baker. But suddenly there it was crowning on the horizon and easy to gaze at with the slight veil of mist. It reminded me of photos I once saw taken of the moment a human egg released from a woman’s follicle. It made me think, “Here’s Mother Earth, once again giving birth to the Sun King. And He begins the return journey to light the World for us once again this year.”

WHETHER WE THINK OF IT OR NOT…

in a way, we’re all dreamers and astrologers. We all dream each night (though we might not remember) and we all feel and see the light of the Sun and Moon and Stars. We’re all affected by sunrise and sunset, we’re all touched by the beauty of the Moon and Stars in the heavens at night. We notice them especially when they rise or set, or at the zenith or the nadir, points of note for astrologers, with any heavenly body.

And without dreams and synchronicity, astrology would be nothing but a very complicated and boring exercise in math. Our lives are woven together with the meaning that dreams, omens, and synchronicity bring to us. We each have a secret and very, very precious relationship to the Source. It speaks to us through the circumstances of our lives. We’re never alone. There’s always a Robin Redbreast of Hope waiting somewhere for us when we least expect it.

So as you go into the New Year, we want to wish you to dream your best dreams, whatever that means—exactly—for you.

All the very best to you in the coming year as the light once again grows in power.

The beginning of knowledge is the discoveryof something we do not understand.— Jeanette Winterson

THE SHORTEST DAY—AND LONGEST NIGHT— Of THE YEARWILL SOON BE HERE

As I look out the window, snow is coming down blanketing the trees. It’s cold but I’m hoping Winter Man will spread his white cape across the landscape, enclosing us for a day or two, into inner worlds of fantasy and inspiration. At any rate, I think this is not the time of year for pessimism. Letting yourself get downhearted now is like having to reach up to touch bottom. No way! And have you noticed, by the way, how the usual routines have started getting a bit skewed? That’s the Sun in Sag — can’t abide a stuck routine…

As the wheel of the year turns, Scorpio has hopefully succeeded in burning away the dross in our deepest consciousness, confronting us with death, asking us to approach it with reverence and deeper respect for life. The way has been cleared for renewal. Everything in our physical world and in our spiritual world that dies leaves a place for something new to be born or to take place.

THE STORY OF THE ARROW The Hunter stands poised. The moment has come. The prey, a young buck, stands tired, weak and vulnerable somewhere in a nearby thicket. But where exactly…? Kenge has been pursuing it for close to eight hours now… The tribe was very hungry. The roots, berries and various plants they’d been gathering were good food, but not enough. The oldest and best hunters had gone out to follow the antelope herds. They’d followed them for four days without sleeping, catching short naps only seconds long while standing waiting for the herd to move. An animal had finally been selected — the buck that Kenge now had to find. It had been chosen for it’s inability to keep up as quickly with the herd. That made it a realistic target for a persistence hunt. Then, Kenge had been selected as the fastest runner of the tribe to outrun the antelope. An arrow had been shot. It hadn’t hit the animal. From that distance that would have been extraordinary luck. Unbelievable. The antelope were not either stupid or slow. The herd sprang into motion, flying away in what appeared to be effortless motion over the grassland, clearing small thickets with easy, fluid grace. Kenge sprang into motion too and the hunt was on. Now, about eight hours later, both man and animal were spent. Kenge’s advantage in this semi-arid terrain was his human ability to carry water with him and his smooth, hairless skin that allowed him to cool off by sweating as he ran. The antelope had to use all fours for running and its fur made cooling down in the sun very difficult. He had to find shade. Now he was taking what may well be his final rest. Kenge judged that he must certainly not be far off. In a half stupor of exhaustion himself, Kenge summoned his strength and began to perform a very purposeful pantomime of the antelope’s actions. He lived day to day in the same world as the antelope, knew their ways so intimately. His life and the life of his tribe could very well depend on that intimate relationship in this moment. He placed his mind into the mind of the antelope, focusing intently in his inner vision to “see” its every move. And there it was! Closer than he had suspected! He carefully reached down into his quiver for an arrow — an arrow that had been crafted with so many hours of skilled handiwork. It had taken a long time too, to gather and process the herbs that its tip had been dipped into, those herbs that Kenge hoped would soon send the antelope into its final sleep — an easy passing over into the world of spirit. Kenge moved slowly and quietly just a little closer around the next thicket, then rasing his bow, his powerful arm pulled the string taught and then released the arrow. His aim was true! The shocked antelope suddenly staggered to its feet, only to quickly sink back with exhaustion. In a short while, its struggle was over. Kenge approached very carefully and slowly. He had one more very important responsibility before returning to let the others know where the antelope’s carcass lay. He poured out a little water onto the earth and said a prayer, thanking the spirit of the animal for its life and apologizing for killing it. This moment demanded his total, heartfelt respect and it was easy to give. He had felt the antelope’s life and its strength. He’d matched it with his own. He’d felt the last tremendous shudder of its spirit leaving its body. In that moment he experienced clearly and knew himself, with all his life and breath, to be one with the antelope; knew that his spirit would one day leave his body in a tremendous shudder too. The deed was done… Kenge had risked his life to pursue the antelope. Now he could return. He would sleep a long sleep. And then celebrate with his tribe.

What you risk reveals what you value.— Jeanette Winterson

THE SIGN OF SAGITTARIUS IS SYMBOLIZED BY THE ARROW

I’ve told you this story to illustrate how much preparation went into the actual use of that arrow that Kenge killed the Antelope with. It’s just a fiction that I’ve made up; but it is based on the real life practice of the Persistence Hunt as practiced in Africa from antiquity. It took such an expense of energy and so much carefulness of intention, that when the arrow was finally shot it was almost anticlimactic. What that arrow represents to me is the correct use of intention and focus to achieve something great, in this case, survival with honor and respect for the balance life and death. Not many of us are called upon in our culture to risk our lives directly for food. We’re presented with different kinds of risks in our lives today. But, as one member of the First Nation Vancouver tribe pointed out in an interview with National Geographic, “The hunt is still with us.” We’re living in a time when it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we’re still dependent on the balance of nature (however indirectly) for our survival. Every choice we make still reflects our relationship to the Earth — whether we pause to think about it or not.

I think the biggest challenge that we have now is to keep our soul and our spiritual vision alive. That’s what Sagittarius is all about.

IN THE AFRICAN VILLAGE WHERE I GREW UP… I remember sitting down to have meals with black African folk and being amazed at the amounts of heavy food they could eat. As much as they ate, though, they were always trim and strong. You see very few overweight people in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Congo, I don’t remember ever seeing anyone who was obese. Their lifestyle asked that they use their bodies every day in some form of demanding exercise. And every night when the Moon was full they would dance. You could hear the drums across the valley as the celebration went on all night. Our existence as “civilized” folk seemed to be so pale and milquetoast compared to theirs. My missionary parents and their colleagues frequently called upon Africans to perform tasks that we weren’t able to do — catch snakes or tarantulas that had wandered too close to the house, climb trees for fruit or honey, skin the animals that they’d shot with a gun, or just painstaking menial tasks like sweeping the compound, washing clothes by hand and then ironing them with the antique coal iron, cooking and what not — tasks that the missionaries felt would take too much time from their all-important service to God. I couldn’t help but feel, as the Sunday sermons droned on and on, that attending church had to be the most boring existence in the world. Hell somehow seemed at least not boring and I made up my mind that, once released from this prison called “Truth,” I would never again live a boring life! I didn’t know anything about astrology then, but if I did, I would have known as I approached my 18th birthday and prepared to leave Africa for Canada, that my Progressed, Sun representing evolving identity, was moving into the 9th House which is related to Sagittarius. Can you guess what its traditional name is? The House of Long Journeys Over Water!!

One doesn’t discover new landswithout consenting to lose sight of the shorefor a very long time.— Andre Gide

So, off I went! I landed first in New York city, planning to take a smaller airplane up the coast a week later to Nova Scotia. My first day in New York city plunged me into massive culture shock. First of all, I had NO IDEA that there were so many PEOPLE in the world!!! It was completely beyond my grasp that you could not make eye contact with every stranger you passed in the street. I had lived most of my life in a village in the Ituri rainforest.

And when it began to rain, I lay on my bed and cried as the rain fell, not on soft receptive earth, but on hard, unreceptive pavement. So this was the world that my pious parents had chosen to “give up” for the “trying” existence of living in Africa winning souls to God… I had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire and I knew it. Obviously I was in Hell now but there was no going back. I knew that it would take many years of living in a different way to undo the deep impressions that my parents’ belief system had made on my mind. If I returned too soon, I would be imprisoned again and maybe never find my way out.

If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.— Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. (1900 – 1965)

Little had I known as I was growing up in the 50’s that one of the great anthropologists of our time, Colin Turnbull, was doing research among the Wambuti, the Forest People, only a short distance away from me. Years later, his book, The Forest People was handed to me one day by someone I barely knew. I read it and returned it. My perspective had changed in a beautiful way. Something had been explained for me about the people that I had grown up so near to in a way that I could finally begin to understand. As I began to write this newsletter, I tried to think of Sagittarians who might be good examples of the best traits of the sign as cultural bridges. Colin Turnbull came to mind. “Must have been a Sagittarian, I thought.” A google search brought up the day and place he was born and even though I couldn’t find a time, sure enough, a chart for zero hours that day shows a Sun sign at one degree, twenty-six minutes Sagittarius! I watched a video clip of Turnbull and his African-American lover of twenty-nine years, Dr. Joseph Towles. They were discussing a film based on Turnbull’s book, The Mountain People. Turnbull was describing how he saw himself pictured in the movie as

…a not very nice but not very nasty kind of bumbling around old anthropologist sort of doing things by mistake more than anything else. Not far from the truth but my feeling was, ‘God, if only I was only half as nice as that character on the stage… …whenever anyone reads an ethnography, I wish we could know more about the personal beliefs and aspirations of the anthropologist because hopefully most of us are still human beings as well as anthropologists. I’ve got a feeling that some of my colleagues are not. You know that they are so wrapped up in anthropology as a science that they go off into the field like calculating machines. And they come back like calculating machines only with new programs sort of programmed into them…

Gary Larsen captured this in one of his cartoon scenes: In a hut are some Africans with t.v. and other modern gadgets. In the distance you can see white men with pith helmets, notebooks etc. One African says to the others, “Quick, hide the t.v.! Anthropolgists are coming.”

You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird. So let’s look at the bird and see what it’s doing — that’s what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.— Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)

In our own ways, it seemed that Colin Turnbull and I had both experienced the down side of the Sagittarian archetype — I with the missionaries and he with anthropologists. You want to say to people like this, “Just because you have a stone head, don’t take everything for granite.”

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.— Marcel Proust (1871 – 1922)

But turning from the shadow side of Sagittarius toward the light, what do we see?

Well, in Turnbull, a man who, however he may have struggled with his personal demons, had the courage to search for meaning outside the stultifying confines of his own culture. He’s been criticized for his romanticizing of the Congo Wambuti and at the same time his insensitivity toward the Ek, of Uganda, the Mountain People. There’s probably some truth to this but, that aside, he was a man who forged tremendous bridges of understanding between Africa and the West. I think what can be said of his shortcomings, or anyone else’s who makes this kind of effort, is this:

If you’re never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances.— Julie Sorel

In his book, In the Arms of Africa; The Life of Colin M. Turnbull, Richard Grinker has this to say about him: Through Kenge, Colin realized a total and consuming passion for both the forest and the Pygmies who lived there, and he would remember the night he saw Kenge dance in the moonlight as a revelation. For it was on that night, amidst the music and the effervescence, in a momentary vision and a brief conversation, that he became convinced of the human capacity for love and for goodness.

One more quote from Grinker:

For Colin, that early mother-child bond among the Mbuti was the best model for future relationships with family, friends, and lovers; only when that bond was absent did children and parents find themselves in conflict, with both sides feeling rejected and worthless. Then, in the absence of that bond and when it was already too late, love had to be demanded; then love became the burden Colin knew so well.

What would we lose, he once asked, if we gave our children something different, something of what the Mbuti have to teach us about motherhood?

After his lover, Joseph Towles’ death from aids, Colin gave away most of what he owned, took the name, Lobsong Ridgol, and until the end of his life (he too died of aids) was tutored by the eldest brother of the Dalai Lama in the monastery where he chose to live. I don’t know what you think, but I think that took a pretty open mind for someone who grew up in the British Isles. He was born in Harrow, England on November 23, 1924 and died on July 28, 1994. One great Sagittarian, if you ask me.

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.— Katherine Mansfield (1888 - 1923)

SANGUINE SAGITTARIUS It’s true that Sagittarius is a naturally very “up” kind of “medicine.” The focus when people usually think of this sign is that straightforward honesty and high enthusiasm so characteristic of the people born at this time of the year (unless they’re not following their bliss.) That emphasizes the feeling of the arrow in flight. The zing of forward motion and leaving the past behind with a tremendous PUSH! Helen Keller put it very aptly when she said this:

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.— Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

It’s said that the Zen archer, when missing the target, doesn’t go to look for the arrow right away, but sits down in meditation first.

The archer turns inward to understand where the mistake was first made. Not taking enough time to look first or to look inward when the target has been missed are the points Sagittarius is more likely to miss than not taking the risk at all (although, there are Sagittarians who systematically refuse to take any leaps, becoming the most crotchety old folks, stuck in a rut — or those who take risks without thinking it through first.)

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.— George S. Patton (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945)

—ALSO--

The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.— Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

So off Sagittarians go into the wild blue yonder. Wish them luck. Luggage gets lost, cab drivers can take you in circles, camels bite, flights are delayed or cancelled, foreign cultures turn out to be stranger than you ever could imagine, running out of money and energy in a place where you can’t even speak the language can be fatal, so can diseases you have no immunity for; but life goes on and the perspectives you gain from changing your perspective opens moments of truth otherwise unavailable. What is accomplished?The spirit is refreshed. Life is given new meaning.

ALL OF THE OTHER ZODIAC SIGNS HAVE A SPECIFIC GOAL OF SOME KIND, SOME END POINT THEY WANT TO ARRIVE AT. WHAT IS IT FOR SAGITTARIUS?

Sagittarius wants to NEVER ARRIVE! It wants to stay on the journey forever. It wants life to be forever new and fresh. And it should do whatever it can to make sure that that happens. Look at Colin Turnbull. Even close to his death he was changing his name and taking on a new spiritual perspective. Although Sagittarius can be prone to overshooting their limits, it does need to learn to consider something carefully and then be say when appropriate, “I’m not to old to do that,” and go ahead and do it. And we can all learn something from that, can we not?

There is a theory which states that if anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which statesthat this has already happened.— Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

LUCKY WINDS

Lucky winds are blowing. You can’t tell which way they’ll go. They could bring you sunny skies, or very heavy snow.

Luck is a chameleon. Changing color every day -- Could creep by when you’re at work or on your holiday.

Leopard-Luck is leaping now! Are you aware that you’re its prey! It can ambush you through bliss -- or through a pain-filled day.

Where the wind blows, How the color glows, When the weather snows, Which way the river flows, Every changing scene is for you.

The kaleidoscope of Luck Adjusts to every turn you make. All you need is eyes to see each awesome, newborn shape.

Luck is never known to wait But with some practice you can see Those kinky, slow chameleons in every single tree.

Where the wind blows, How the color glows, When the weather snows, Which way the river flows, Every changing scene is for you. Every ever changing scene is for you.

This door swings both waysLets in earth and skyMake the most of livin’If you’re not prepared to dieMake the most of livin’If you’re not prepared to die

Thomas/LevittFrom the album, “Both Sides of Herman’s Hermits”

African Medicine Man, Malidoma Some recounts a saying of his Dagara tribe something like this: If we go forward, we die. If we go back we die. So, Hell with it, lets go forward and die!

Late autumn…the light is lessening and growing weaker. Leaves are falling. We’ve passed the Equinox point of balance. The tang of frost in the air now reminds us that any creature without food and shelter or adequate strength will face death before long. The life force is withdrawing to the Source. Many animals, plants and insects are either dying or going into dormancy or hibernation. More people will die between Thanksgiving and New Year than at any other time of the year.

Feel the intensity Step aside, make way for the inevitable; make way for someone who has no options left but to live or die. You are meeting Scorpio. Reading between life’s lines, sizing up the underlying situation, is what Scorpio naturally does. But why? What’s the point? Why bother looking at all the knots on the underside of the tapestry? Why study the innards of the world’s workings?

Uncomfortable questions…

In November 2003, we moved to the Czech Republic where we lived for a time in the small village of Karlstein, just outside the City of Prague. While we were there, we received an invitation from a musician friend to come hear him play. He was accompanying a solo dance performance on keyboard.

For several hours, the room full of about a hundred people sat in tensely focused silence as a virtually naked woman danced…with a skeleton…

The second Iraq war had just started. The world was in shock or denial or protest. George W. Bush had just visited the city for the NATO summit. People had stayed home leaving the streets deserted. Protesters were banned from the downtown area. That winter in Prague was so cold that snow wasn’t even falling. (I learned, while there that this is something that happens.) Our electricity got turned off. We had to wash clothes by hand in freezing water. I spent a good part of my time chopping wood for the fire. Soul searching was definitely the order of the time. We were dancing with death.

It seems that in the time of Scorpio the soul enters this world with a need for soul searching and healing This sign has a strongly instinctive nature, a need to heighten awareness, to look around to sense what changes are in the air, to be alert to hidden danger or tremendous possibility. In the energy of this archetype is both the sting of death and the quickening of life. Transformation. Scorpio’s choices will determine whether the soul will grow, leaving behind the shackles of the past, or go deep into denial.

Denial of the darkness of negativity is Scorpio’s death warrant.

There’s nothing worse for anyone — but especially a Scorpio — than to live a numb, meaningless existence, to fail to penetrate to the essence of life. Scorpio is here to live every moment with the passionate awareness that we are working against time, that death is inevitable.

Gaze deeply into the eyes of your Scorpio friend or lover. You may find an unusually hypnotic quality there, an uncanny depth and intensity that may be just a touch unsettling. Their eyes seem to be saying, “Are you willing to go the distance with me? Are you in it for the long haul? Are you prepared to face whatever life may bring us, hand in hand? I want and need your total commitment.”

The ability common to most of us, to seal off the doorway between the conscious and subconscious is something that Scorpio doesn’t have. Instead, this function works more like a swinging door. Scorpio has been given access to the taboo, the occult and the secret side of life…and the taboo and the occult also have access to Scorpio. Close encounters with someone of this sign seem to burn something into our soul’s awareness with indelible ink. We won’t forget it.

Facing the dark isn’t something anybody wants to do alone. Instinctively we have always banded together as a human group to face the things that we’re afraid of. Not only is there strength in numbers, but the potential for greater perspective (sometimes greater loss of perspective as well!) Bonding, the sexual bond in particular, is totally important to Scorpio as is the commitment to being bonded, for better or for worse, whether it’s an individual, family, clan, or species relationship. A Scorpio who can’t bond or who stifles the sexual urge is a sad sight to see because bonding is one of Scorpio’s prime resources. So is humor. BLACK humor!

I remember when I was first introduced to Monty Python’s particular brand of Black humor, I was in my late teens and pathetically naive. “It was absolutely horrifying that people were actually watching this stuff!!! Oh well, the world was obviously going to the dogs…” Time went by and I met the man I’m now married to. We bonded. Within that bond, one of the horrifying things to surface (as horrifying things do within all intimate bonds) was that he loved Monty Python. But by this time in my life, I was ready for change, and off we went to see “The Life of Brian.” Having a companion to face the darkness with, I suddenly found the whole thing insanely funny. I laughed with more than humor. I laughed with fervor as all of the Christian archetypes of my childhood were nailed to the cross and resurrected with new meaning. I had lost my reverence for a lot of dogma. I felt healed!

Letting go of some of our reverence for the depths is also a very “Scorpio” thing.

Time out for a couple jokes. The followingare actual notices from church bulletins:*The topic for this Sunday’s sermon will be “What is Hell?”Come early and listen to our choir practice.*Don’t let worry kill you. Let the church help.

There’s a saying among astrologers…That Scorpio has the reputation, but Taurus has all the fun. It’s referring to sex.

Actually, there’s some truth to this in my experience. While Taurus is here to “revel in the flesh,” Scorpio is here to work out any problems around the issue. This is the venom of the Scorpion transmuted into a healing elixir. Enter, the sex therapist who may or may not have worked out their own problems first. The ones who have, can really teach you a thing or two… and they’ll make you laugh hard too. The ones who haven’t…watch out for the sting!

Scorpio wants to get to the core issues; to see behind the veil of assumptions and lies that routine living tends to cloud our perspective with. It doesn’t–or shouldn’t–tolerate platitudes and clichés very well. Scorpio’s passion and voracious thirst takes it in the direction of the occult, of the taboo, the hidden and the mysterious. Because down that road that is where destiny lies. You may find them as hospice workers, or on the front lines of some battle for truth. We know that the release of buried emotions and hidden pain yields TREMENDOUS ENERGY!!!! Reunite with your Inner Child; clear out the emotions associated with sexual abuse. You get a new lease on life. THAT my friends, is what Scorpio is after. And in this crucible of experience is where Shamans, great healers, and effective therapists are made.

AVOID THESE ISSUES and Scorpio becomes the deviant, the psychopath, the Evil Sorcerer, the Money-making Surgeon. Or the Gray (repressed) Lizard.

According to Shaman and author, Martin Prechtel, in older spiritual traditions, the compost pile is the place where the most sacred alters are placed. In his book, Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, he relates that the Mayan culture in which he lived and trained, was in fact, based on the principle of decay. As long as people built houses in a primitive enough fashion, they were always guaranteed to, of course, fall down — giving everyone a much needed excuse to come together while building a new one.

Modern manufacturers have something called “planned obsolescence.” This is how we get cheaply made goods. And we don’t much come together to help each other as a result of it.

Recycling? Not a problem in nature!

So, in the immortal words of Eric Idle,

“Life’s a piece of shitWhen you look at it…So always look on the bright side of death.”

If you want to read an excellent book on death, try Robert Moss’ The Dreamer’s Book of the Dead: A Soul Traveler’s Guide to Death Dying and the Other Side.

And here are the lyrics of a song I wrote for Patti Lee, my friend who died of lymphoma at the full moon just before 9/11.

Enduring in the face of obstacles, pain, fatigue, frustration, opposition, hardship and even enduring in good times will all bring you success…Acting with endurance will relieve you of all blame…the superior person stands firm in the changing times and does not change his direction.—The Yi Jing, Chinese Book of Changes Hexagram 32, Heng/Durationtranslation by Wu Wei

AT THE CENTER OF THE SCALES THERE’S NO MOVEMENT AT ALL The Equinox arrives. Day and night are equal in length. The weather isn’t too hot or too cold. This is the time of Libra…Woman/Man, light/dark/opened/closed, sweet/sour, success/failure, love/hate and on and on the list of opposites goes. It’s one of the basic laws of our universe. Even a small child can tell you about opposites. Dark gives meaning to light—and no matter how much fun you’re having, would anybody ever choose an endless day with no sleep? At every hurricane’s center is a complete calm. It has to be that way.

The Libran scales are a really ancient metaphor. They’re the old fashioned tipping kind, not the digital kind. Standing at the center of these scales, there’s no movement at all, just a very clear perspective. What’s to be learned from it?

Gemini came in to watch the play of opposites too, but to revel in them and be amazed and confused and amazed again that they all emanate from the same source; but you could think of Libra—from an athletic point of view—as the ultimate resistance training.

By having your balance challenged, you can learn what balance is.

Knowing that each half of an experience is forever part of a whole means that we always know that every question has an answer, that the left fork of the road eventually leads to the same place as the right fork, that parallel lines eventually intersect. In other words, there’s nothing we can do ultimately, to shift the cosmic balance because all the opposites flow from and back again into the same source.

Eastern mysticism advises us to be the observer of all these polarities, to simply be the witness from a whole brain perspective, rather than getting tossed about by the “this” or “that” of life. What can we experience? Peace, calm, tranquility.

Trying to escape or resist the tip of the scales one way or the other can only make us suffer. Life’s like that. As soon as the Moon reaches full, it begins to wane. As soon as night falls, daylight begins to approach. As soon as someone is born, death is inevitable…

WALK INTO AN UNTOUCHED OLD GROWTH FOREST ON A WARM SPRING DAY. Beauty surrounds you. Exhilarating fragrances from blossoms and tree resins ripple through the clean air. With each step you take, your foot rebounds, pleasantly cushioned by the duff underfoot. You occasionally witness some scat, testament to the presence of one or another of the forest’s animal denizens. Birds call from the tree branches and a brook babbles nearby, but the overall effect is of deep silence, unfathomable stillness…

Unless you’ve been conditioned to respond favorably to only the sounds of traffic and machinery (some people have), all your senses are quickly involved in a way that makes you relax deeply. The overall experience is of loveliness. The fact that millions of fallen leaves are rotting on the forest floor doesn’t even come to mind. There’s no stench. The animal scat laid down fresh every day isn’t obnoxious. You are experiencing balance.

If you’re quiet enough and lucky enough to see a Mountain lion with a full belly stroll past a couple of deer or a brush rabbit, you’ll witness the balance in a different way. No animosity—or even alarm—is registered by deer or rabbit. The lion is a hunter, not a murderer. It doesn’t kill for hatred – or who knows, even pleasure – just to survive.

UNDER THE SIGN OF LIBRA WE FIND PEOPLE WHO ARE LEARNING A PARTICULAR LESSON IN LIFE-- how to gain conscious control over the nervous system; intentionally going into the eye of life’s hurricane in all circumstances. With the other signs, it’s more or less a built in feature, just like the flow of nature in an old growth forest; but Libra is living the challenge of taking balance off autopilot and doing it manually.

WHAT’S THE POINT, you might wonder? Well, think about it for a moment. Even if the majority of us can keep our cool, going through life reasonably well most of the time, there are times when, regardless of our best intentions, we get thrown off. Conflicts arise, misunderstandings happen, tempers flare and rudeness can escalate (in the worst cases, to violence) no matter how well-bred we might be. It just happens. “Shit happens,” as the saying goes.

HERE’S WHERE THE GODDESS OF JUSTICE COMES IN Sometimes the Goddess of Justice, represented blindfolded, holding the scales of justice in her hands is also associate with Libra.

An impartial verdict is what the blindfold represents. Don’t you think this influence is absolutely essential to our race of hypersensitive monkeys with big brains, tons of technology and over/undersized egos? We need people who have intentionally learned to stay at point of equilibrium when emotions go careening in a mad roller coaster ride from love to hate; from horror and disgust to pity and then back again. We need mediators, artists, musicians, peacekeepers, to remind us of the beauty in life and the value of courtesy and respect in resolving our differences. To calm us down.

Think, “Gandhi” here. Mahatma Gandhi’s chart shows a Libra Sun and Ascendant, Leo Moon. In the book, “Think And Grow Rich” (1937), Napoleon Hill had this to say about him.

“Perhaps the majority of those who have heard of Gandhi look upon him as merely an eccentric little man, who goes around without formal wearing apparel, and makes trouble for the British government. In reality, Gandhi is not eccentric, but HE IS THE MOST POWERFUL MAN NOW LIVING… Moreover, he is probably the most powerful man who has ever lived. His power is passive, but it is real… In brief, Gandhi has accomplished a MIRACLE, for it is a miracle when two hundred million people can be induced—not forced—to cooperate in a spirit of HARMONY, for a limitless time. If you doubt that this is a miracle, try to induce ANY TWO PEOPLE to cooperate in a spirit of harmony for any length of time.”

EVER TRIED TO RESOLVE A DISAGREEMENT WITHOUT RESPECTING THE OTHER PERSON’S POINT OF VIEW? Ever tried to “teach” someone to “do better” by pouring your hot-lava-anger all over them? Ever tried to use blame to get someone to “fess up?” Every tried to move away from a failed relationship without forgiveness? Doesn’t work, does it? The Libran point of view is essential.

MY LIBRA BROTHER’S WEDDING BROUGHT THE FAMILY TOGETHER In an extended family like ours which tends to live scattered across International boundaries (both physically and philosophically), I couldn’t help but notice that it was my Libra brother’s wedding that almost everyone made it to. It was much more than a wedding. It seemed to me like our first real family re-union in many, many years. My bro didn’t really work on trying to get us all there. He just seemed to have the lifestyle and natural graciousness that attracted everybody who could come. I could see how a Libran can tend to be a cornerstone of a family or community relationship network.

LIBRA SEEKS—AND NEEDS—HARMONY, balance, peace and calm, equilibrium. Libra’s natural way is courtesy and respect for the “Other.” knowing that the “Other” is always another aspect of your own Whole Self; knowing that relationship is one of the most powerful ways to grow. This sensibility lends itself to artistic expression too. The relationships of sounds in music can create literal harmony (or dissonance). Color and form in visual arts can have the same impact on the senses as nature, soothing and calming. In situations where people can’t agree on any philosophy, they still respond to communication through the arts, through symbolic representations of feelings that don’t confront the ego head on.

It is difficultto get the news from poemsyet men die miserably every dayfor lackof what is found there

— William Carlos Williams

We all have Libra somewhere in our charts in varying degrees of influence; but possibly more than any other sign, Libra, the Lover, needs relationships in order to grow. Relationships for Libra can be a super-intensive learning experience. What might be a more or less straight forward matter of getting along—or not—for most of us, turns out to be an extraordinary labyrinth of complex considerations for Libra.

By nature, Libra is compelled to carefully examine all aspects of an interaction, not only from their own, but the Other’s point of view; and the more people involved the more considerations…yikes! I can’t even think about it without getting a migraine! Libra’s goal, of course, is to create harmony by any means possible. Sounds like the perfect partner, doesn’t it? And could very well be; but so as to keep a balanced perspective, what could go wrong in all of this harmony?

There’s something we learned in the sign of Virgo that can stand us in good stead now. Too much goodness can be as much of a problem as the outright bad stuff people do. Too much harmony is where Libra can get lost.

Tolerating the “Other’s” idiosyncrasies, leaning to the other side to keep the boat balanced, those are Libra’s great natural tendencies; but they can also easily lead to just keeping up appearances and skirting the unpleasant issues involved in working out relationships. Libra can lose sight of the fact that painful confrontations are often the trigger to deepening a relationship. A Libra can completely lose their own center of gravity and spend life revolving around the demands of their partner. Some painful things do resolve themselves eventually without anything being done about it; BUT SOME WILL NOT.

WHEN YOUR GOAL IS HARMONY, it’s easy to forget that dissonance is the other half of the equation. Venus isn’t known for her beguiling ways for no reason. Harmony, for good or evil, is seductive. Consider two drunks on a binge. They are in harmony about having the next…and the next…drink. How about the high school sweethearts who to stay together “because of the kids” though they’ve long since outgrown the relationship? Or a hetero couple who secretly knows deep down that one of them is really gay? Wouldn’t some good honest conflict be helpful here?

THAT GODDESS OF JUSTICE… as goddesses have been known to do, can sometimes peek out under that blindfold while the scales are being loaded. Then, even when the scales balance, it’s “Oops, a pinch more for the other side,” then, “Just one more for the other… and the other…” It’s very difficult to be the one who takes the heat from both parties when the verdict doesn’t favor either one completely; somehow that “measuring process” can go, and on, and on, and on…. When you consider that both, Mahatma Gandhi and John Lennon (Libra Sun, Aries Asc., Aquarius Moon), were murdered for the stand they took, you can see why a Libran might be tempted to manipulate a verdict.

WHY BOTHER MAKING CHOICES? Why not just comply? Or manipulate the situation. It’s so much easier, isn’t it? A little voice inside every Libra tends to presents these questions. Meanwhile the clock on the mantelpiece “taps it’s toe,” eyebrow raised, saying, “Well…?”

Much better to take the heat in small doses than end up with a volcanic explosion that buries the whole town. Or make your decision by just dying. (Then there’s something about reincarnation and doing it all over again… but some Librans would just rather go to Hell and get it “over with” than make a decision or committ to a relationship.)

We all know too about the arts making powerful statements to confront cultural complacency, like the first performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” It caused riots in Paris. TOUGH SPOT TO BE IN!

BUT WHEN LIBRA DOES GET IT RIGHT, IMAGINE THE BLISS… functional relationships! magnificent works of art, powerful music, dance and drama, social events with grace, lush beautiful landscapes surrounding us, time for personal rest and relaxation, true diplomacy among nations, peace and prosperity (most of the time.)

And to be completely FAIR… as one very astute Libra Lady once pointed out to me, there truly are some situations in which there really is no clear answer!And herein lies another of Libra’s attributes—the ability to tolerate paradox. We don’t always have to have a clear answer. Sometimes it’s most desirable not to, as in the case of issues such as religion which may best be left to a personal experience.

A Time for Everything1 There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.

— Ecclesiastes 3 (New International Version)New International Version (NIV)

With the first touches of coolness in the air I always feel a little melancholy that summer can’t last forever. Like children have to grow up, even Leo can’t hold the spotlight forever. The focus shifts…

Responsibilities crowd in on us along with the harvest season and preparation for the winter, entering school, or going back to work after the holidays.

And even though most of us leave harvesting to farmers nowadays, all of our lives still depend on this cycle of nature. Historically, this was the time for laying in stores so that, come January when the snow was deep, you could still survive.

VIRGO is the goddess of growing things, especially plants. Known also as CERES, she’s the goddess of motherly love. For thousands of years she presided over the harvest as well as rites of passage. “Ceres,” is the root of our word “cereal.” She’s the One Who Nourishes. And, in a mode of mothering we don’t think of as often, she’s also the One Who Weans.

Going back to her times in ancient history can give us perspective on this transitional period.

The first five signs of the Zodiac, if you think of them as phases, are all focussed on more personal concerns and can also symbolize the period of childhood to puberty; but as we enter Virgo, the focus shifts to making the transition to adulthood. In ancient times, that meant initiation.

Initiation? The word, to our present-day minds, conjures up weird images of bizarre and barbaric rites; but simply understood, it’s just the social event recognized by any community that acknowledges a human being’s entry into adulthood.

I guess nowadays high school graduation functions in a way as a rite of passage. Although, I’d say it doesn’t represent much of any depth to many of us.

But, speaking in Virgoan terms again, this is a critical turning point. We’re learning to include others in our concerns, rather than thinking in terms of only what we need for ourselves.

The wisdom to be learned, ultimately will come together in the Pisces phase where we learn that we are all inseparable in this great tapestry of life. But for now, we need to be reminded that we came here for a reason. We came to learn something and to make a contribution. What is it?

Remembering this is the purpose behind a rite of passage.

In stories recounting initiation experiences, such as told by Malidoma Some or Martin Prechtel, we learn that not everyone comes back from a true rite of passage. Part of its purpose is to mimic death, and so remind us of where we were before we entered this dimension and why we entered it. It’s a truly challenging and awesome experience.

By offering initiation rites, elders of communities for thousands of years have given younger people the gift of a truly meaningful life, helping them evade the pitfall of purposeless, addiction-driven existence.

In another way of thinking, this is the time when, because we’re now past being children, we begin to take care of ourselves. We’re no longer dependent on Mom and Dad and we’re ready to steer the ship of our own life. This can also be a great gift to Mom and Dad, or whoever our Caretaker/s have been.

But what does it mean to be born under this sign?

One way of thinking about it, is that we’re in a lifetime of learning something about ourselves. Or that we may have come to learn how to serve humanity in some special way. Or that perhaps we’ve had many lifetimes learning a particular skill or trait and have now re-entered the human experience full of the bounty of harvest, ready to pass on our knowledge as a Mentor or a Maestro or an Elder.

Each of the signs casts a shadow. There’s a morning shadow and an afternoon shadow.

Virgo’s morning shadow is ignorance. I once had a great mentor, Randy Potter from whom I learned Piano Tuning. He was fond of saying, “We’re all ignorant—just on different topics.”

Virgo represents that part of us that doesn’t know—where we need training and mentoring—and requires our openness and humility (I didn’t say humiliation).

Virgo’s afternoon shadow, is shame or self-doubt. In the process of learning we’ve found out what it’s like to make mistakes. We’ve made a fool of ourselves many times.

We’ve also learned how much there is to learn…there’s an infinite ocean of self-knowledge to those with enough humility and openness to receive. Hopefully, we’ve also experienced the steadying hand and presence of a Mentor. Why would we want to go it alone?

But it has become our turn now, to step into the shoes of the Maestro. Our wisdom of years and perhaps lifetimes is needed in the community. Not that we stop learning, but that we can enjoy the grace and the relative effortlessness of being an expert in our given field.

Or perhaps our work is simply over with and it’s time to relax and enjoy life without the pressure of responsibilities.

This is when we have to shed our self doubt and answer the question posed by comedian, Lily Tomlin, “Why doesn’t anyone ever try softer?”

So if you’re a Virgo, or any other sign for that matter, and would like to have an astrological perspective on yourself, call (604) 448-8940 or contact me at lark@aquariusastrological.com

Astrologically, this stage has been set by the previous sign of Cancer, the Nurturer, and the phase of intense inner work on emotions and feelings and establishment of correct mood and surroundings. The Mother gives birth to the Child. Inner exploration gives way to outward expression. The phase of extremely heightened sensitivity is left behind.

And as the summer blossoms fully, the inner story of the womb experience is revealed. The Performer steps onto the world’s stage. The Lion stands majestic. Heads turn.

The story of the inner voyage pours forth, scantily clothed in metaphor and simile. We completely understand Leo’s inner hungers through the outrageous banquet laid before us; its inner feelings, blatantly revealed in song, dance or story. We can’t look away. These are our experiences too, our hungers too. The audience riots with applause, a standing ovation…

Or if the Performer fails to please us… Leo gets rotten tomatoes… Or worst of all, in the screaming din of multi-media, no one even notices…

Statistics show that most people are less afraid of dying than they are of standing up and speaking in public. It’s risky business. Add playing a difficult instrument or acting a lead role, and the risk level sky-rockets. Is it any wonder that you meet many a shy Leo, some of them frozen in permanent stage fright mode.

WHAT IS LEO’S AIM?

I once went to help a friend when her baby was born. We couldn’t help but share our awe at what we were experiencing. My friend had been brought up Roman Catholic. She recounted how a nun had once told her that when you look into a newborn’s face, you look into the face of God (or Goddess).

In the same manner that royalty holds a sceptre, Leo holds the space for us to see divinity. I think that this is Leo’s joy—and purpose.

The Inner Child, is one of the archetypes of this sign. As is the Monarch or the Performer. This is the Golden Girl/Boy. The One Who Shines!!!

BUT DOESN’T EVERYONE SEEK JOY IN LIFE?

Of course we all seek joy in life. And of course, Leo is one part of everyone’s chart. But certain people are characterized by Leo’s traits more strongly than others.

Think for a moment, of the Sun, Leo’s associated luminary. It’s tremendous gravitational field curves the planets into their orbits and gives coherence to the Solar System.

And it radiates the life giving force of sunshine. When we wake up to a new day, no matter how dark or frightening the night has been, we usually feel hope and gratitude that there’s a new beginning.

VITALITY! PRESENCE! These are Leo’s qualities.

If we reach a point that we can’t feel this anymore, if we pass our days mechanically, in boredom and routine, we know that there is a serious problem. People can’t live without joy and hope. As would life on Earth without Sun, they die. If not literally, physically, then metaphorically for sure.

A HEALTHY SENSE OF IDENTITY

We come from formlessness into form. Of course the Sun is just one among zillions of stars in the Multiverse. Even the Sun is just a mere speck compared to the vastness of it all. Ego, taken on its own is a mere joke—and not an entertaining one!

But to navigate the world of form, we need an ego, a centre. Leo needs to gloriously, unselfconsciously, exuberantly occupy some space at the centre of at least somebody’s attention.

Monarchs—and tyrants—are famous for displaying the worst of ego. But the point here, really, is for Leo to become the Queen or King of her/his own life. Not to dominate but to model that for others.All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players.- Wm. Shakespeare

So bring on the banquet with wine a-plenty. Sit back for a good story or five. And then let’s dance the night away! Let’s drink life to the fullest! Are you with me?

My rule of life is to drink and be merry,To be free from belief and unbelief is my religion:I asked the Bride of Destiny her bride-price,“Your joyous heart,” she said.– The Rubaiyat of Omar KhayyamTranslation by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs

Summer arrived as it does each year, and as we do many summers, we went on a backpacking trip in one of our favourite places. I took off from camp one fine morning, vaguely wandering, searching for an animal with whom I might become better acquainted. I took a long walk along the river, making my best effort to relax and tune in. I was anticipating something very magical happening. I could easily imagine taking on the lope of a wolf or a coyote and was very excited at the idea of experiencing such a sensation; but as I went along I didn’t seem to be making much headway. In fact, I seemed to be going slower and slower and finally I decided to climb up onto a big rock for a rest by a quiet pool. As I did, I caught sight and heard the sound of a turtle plopping into the water. “Stupid!” I thought, “Should have been quieter and I’d have gotten to sit and sunbathe with a turtle.” Then it suddenly occurred to me why I might have been walking so slowly. Maybe slow Turtle was communicating with me… I wanted to find a special song to sing so I listened in my mind to see if a song about a turtle would come to me—and it did! But I was filled with doubts… this was all just a little too easy. I must be making it up… A year later I came back to the same area for another camping trip and tried the whole exercise over again—with the same results! But my doubts still got the better of me and by the time I got back to camp and tried to share my song with Kris, my husband, I had forgotten it! I wracked my brain and finally decided to look for some sticks to beat out the rhythm to see if that would help the song come back to me. I strolled over near the water’s edge looking for some sticks that would have been rubbed nice and smooth in the spring floods. As I stooped over to pick one up, something in the river caught my eye. There was a turtle swimming directly toward me—not away from me as you would think—and the song began to come back into my mind. I continued to have experiences like these with turtles for the rest of my trip and by the time we headed home, was finally convinced that people and animals truly can communicate. I think that is one reason why most of the twelve astrological archetypes use the symbolism of animals. It comes from human beings’ long time association with them—thousands and thousands of years—in a time before doubt about our relationships crept into our minds and when people and animals were not so different…

So, back to the sign of Cancer, which has been at times in the past represented by the Turtle, or nowadays, the Crab. Both are creatures with a hard, protective shell and a soft, sensitive interior. They’re both sought after for their tasty meat. So they have to be able to protect themselves. Turtle carries its home on its back. And home is very much the issue here.

Taking time to slow down and reflect within a supportive environment, taking care of myself and my partner, being aware of the Earth and our place on it as the outer reflection of the Inner Source; thinking about ways to clothe, shelter and feed ourselves so as to be in accord with nature, these things were very much things that we became aware of on those camping trips.

They are all Cancerian types of concerns.

Coming very much into focus after those camping trips was knowing to take the time I needed for myself (a major Cancerian concern) before giving to others. And, the importance of respecting and being in good relationship with the entire woodland family became much more obvious. (Extended family is another important concern for Cancer.) The sign of Cancer is all about plumbing the depths one’s hidden emotional world. It is taking time to reflect on who we are or want to become and simultaneously reflecting on who else we share our inner as well as outer world with. It has to do with finding our own personal story.

This involves reaching out with heightened senses, engaging with life through the clearest feelings possible. Not doing so in the woods, could have resulted in, for example, stepping on a Rattler, becoming food for a Mountain lion, or leaving our food where other animals would get it—or missing the tender moments of seeing a Doe suckling her twin fawns, the River otters playing in the water, the Merganser paddling upstream with her brood, or a pair of young Bucks settling down for a nap on the beach just a few yards away from us… After all, we were travelling two-legged, rather than on four wheels, and carrying our food and shelter on our backs, a little more on equal terms with others. For the greater part of human history, what our ancestors knew as “home” was vastly simpler than what we’ve come to know as “home” in more recent times. We appear to have gained greater security by building ourselves an impenetrable “shell” — the permanent dwellings we live in now. But have we chosen to live on the downside of Cancerian energy? Are we missing out on the exhilarating sensations available from walking in the sunlight—or moonlight? Could we say that our defenses have become our prison? We tend to carelessly overstep our boundaries with others or conversely, get lost in the melodrama of needing more than we give or giving more than we should in relationships. Our families are fragmented, our sense of support from a close-knit, it seems that reliable community is all but non-existent most of the time. The idea that we could converse with a plant or animal, consider them a brother or a sister—much less learn from one of them—seems absurd, even laughable to us. The natural effervescence of feelings that flow and shift with sun and shade, with running brooks and still, quiet pools, the wind in the leaves, is replaced with the screaming hype of machines and commercials, and along with that the blocked emotions/sensitivity that leads us to consume our way into obesity. It seems we’ve forgotten what food is really supposed to taste like or how to take care of ourselves. It seems most people don’t get enough sleep. We pump ourselves full of synthetic drugs and caffeine so we can boot ourselves out the door to go to school or work even when we feel lousy.

This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be!

Fully functional Cancerian people and the things they represent—inner emotional awareness and the work of nurturing and healing—are rare commodities these days. You might say Cancer is an endangered species. Is it any surprise that the disease of cancer is so prevalent, reflecting the negative aspect of the sign? Facing buried emotions has been a big part of being able to heal this disease for many people. To many First Nations people, Turtle is the oldest symbol for planet Earth, our Mother, our home. Within nature it’s very easy to find stillness to tune into our spirit to find inner as well as outer nourishment. When we’re tuned in we know how to receive, Earth the Provider, does just that. This is the way it’s meant to be!

Here’s one of my favourite poems that explores the world of inner sensitivity.

[somewhere i have never travelled]

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond any experience,your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens (touching skilfully,mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals the power of your intense fragility: whose texture compels me with the color of its countries, rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody,not even the rain, has such small hands

—e.e. cummings

“…the power of your intense fragility…” That in a crab shell, or a turtle shell, for me sums up the feeling of the sign of Cancer.

Did I say “feeling?” Well, in a way, that word sums it up too. Cancer is all about letting ourselves in on what we really feel and learning how to shelter and protect that sensitivity.

Here’s another poem that I think conveys some of the experience of the sign of Cancer.

Lost in the forest…

Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips: maybe it was the voice of the rain crying, a cracked bell, or a torn heart.

Something from far off it seemed deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth, a shout muffled by huge autumns, by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.

Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance climbed up through my conscious mind

as if suddenly the roots I had left behind cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood--- and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.

The Pace has shifted… The slow, sensual pace of the Taurean phase has shifted. May flower petals have fallen to the ground in pastel showers. The flambouyant mating rituals of birds have shifted into the frenetic search for grubs to feed baby chicks. Sunny days are inviting us out to explore the world, budding now with a million phenomenal scenarios of unfolding plant, insect and animal life. Newly dug gardens in some neighborhoods are well on the way to becoming chaotic patches of unexpected miracles, seed labels for the garden rows already forgotten. . .

So who are the Twins? A brother and sister, two lovers, enemies, a Grandparent and Grandchild, soulmates, worthy opponents. . . Eyes, ears, noses, fingers, every sense vibrating with total fascination, they are unraveling each other’s essence. They observe the obvious, scan for slight traces of meaning in each other’s subtlest gestures. No expression escapes notice. . . they’re consumed by curiosity, a crazy itch buzzing in the brain day and night. . . Also, we live in a world of opposites and every phase in between them. The “Twins” of light and dark, up and down, back and forth, cold and hot, light and shadow, female and male, old and young, forever and now, there and here; but in the case of Gemini, we’re talking about someone who embodies the traits of observer of these phenomena.

What is it they want? To see everything! Mission Impossible! But never mind! Life is mystery and miracle, to be witnessed but never solved, and the Twins are here to prove it!

How should the Twins proceed? Taurus needed peace and tranquility, stillness and whatever environment and resources were needed to create that. . . but for these mad Twins, that is death. They are here to see everything, no matter if it’s an impossible task. They’re here as observers, not so much as philosophers, as reporters – witnesses to the phenomena of life itself. They need to live a life full of variety and activity. They need to learn that boredom is to be tolerated only as a last sacrament. They need to make sure their minds never stop growing. But how? We’re creatures of habit. . . it’s so easy to get locked in. . .

Chaos… first step in the learning curve Each of us has millions of pictures in our brain files. We may all carry similar pictures but how do we validate the meanings we attach to them? The Western medical doctor may trivialize the spontaneous healing catalyzed by the QiGong master to a mere fluke or maybe just “luck.” The Fundamentalist Christian demonizes the Buddhist monk’s inspired visions. Many a Mom and Dad have molded their child’s mind to their own wishes, choosing to believe that children have no valid self-perceptions. Gemini needs to bypass the tendency to do these things. It needs put meaning on hold, to allow things to make no sense at all. It needs to embrace the state of chaos, of pure perception, of seeing without bias. Once Gemini has given itself permission to be confused about life, then next step can begin to unfold.

Next step… Everyone has pictures in their brains. Everyone has lived through certain experiences that lead them to believe certain things about those pictures. To gain access to other people’s beliefs – the results of their observations – questions have to be asked. Gemini’s next step is to ask, then listen, then evaluate. The pictures have to be processed. At the speed of electricity, perspectives are compared, the data sifted through for clues, discrepancies, similarities, dis-similarities, then sized up, summed up… but the next problem might be to get them to stop talking about it all and listen again. Listening and talking need to be balanced for information to flow correctly, something that doesn’t always seem to come easy for Gemini.

Curiosity and other resources So how is such work to be taken on without miring in total boredom, or falling into the abyss of endless chaos? Gemini’s primary resource is curiosity, a mind open to a sense of wonder; instead of resisting over-amp, embracing it. Getting mindblown. Vitality, physical and mental, is pretty helpful here too and Gemini folks seem to have it in good measure, along with enthusiasm and of course, intelligence. These are the prime resources for this sign. And talking? Yes, the Twins can talk the hind leg off a donkey!

The Shadow side I once knew someone whose doctoral thesis in logic proved that the Moon is made of green cheese. He was also a religious fanatic. There seemed to be a correlation between those two things but I don’t think he could see it… Gemini on the defensive, can perform the miracle of revealing extraordinary “facts.” Right or wrong, they’ll win the argument. Easy to fall for the Trickster and get put off the scent of your own heartfelt opinion when this barrage of words hits you full on. Or a Gemini might tell you all the minutest details of a jazz musician’s life without once every tapping a toe to the music… Also, the constant buzz of thinking can leave a Gemini jumpy and nervous when there’s not enough quiet time spent in heartfelt communication or enough physical exercise to realease the buzz. Don’t expect them to do push ups, though. Maybe dancing, a game of volley ball or badminton will do it, or a walk with a friend to talk to. Gemini is definitely not here to be bored. Gemini is here, though, to absorb the world, in all it’s wildness, mystery and paradox. There really should be no space for bigotry and complacency in their lives to shield them from raw, unprocessed experience. But to keep from going around in endless circles, they need to lock in with intention. They need to know what they want and where they’re going. They need to make the choice to stay in line what their “noble purpose” is; to stay in touch with their feelings and to see the oneness of all things and the patterns of connection throughout all life.

GEMINI

When you look into a mirrorYou see yourself a little clearerWhen a mirror looks at youIt doesn’t have a point of view

When you’re an unbiased hearerYou become just like the mirrorReflecting back just what you seeWith such candid accuracy!

Perception is a one way streetCommunication is anotherAnd lying side by side they meetMeant to complement each other

And so we travel on life’s highwaysChecking out the lanes and bywaysMoving seeming endlesslyAmazed at all there is to see!

Amazed at all there is to see!Amazed at all there is to be!

When you look into a mirrorYou see yourself a little clearerWhen a mirror looks at youIt doesn’t have a point of view

BUFFALOGreat Shaggy ManeMoves across the plain,Horns lowered, eating grass,Moving slowly, lets life passFeels the calm that silence brings…Listens while the cricket sings–Peace, an endless flowing river–Reverence that goes on forever;

But sensitive to Inner Reasons,Bison migrates with the seasons,Knowing when it’s time to goWith Mother Nature’s ebb and flow…

Did you know that an American bison, weighing in at a ton or more, can jump as high as six feet? They can run at speeds of up to 40 mph or 65 kmph as well. Able to jump a standard height barbed wire fence, this is not our docile domesticated ox (what we call “cows”); however, I strongly suspect that the ox, before domestication had a similar strength and willpower as the Bison (usually inaccurately called “buffalo.”) Even so, the bovine family are known for their generally peaceful natures. It’s hard to get one of them angry but if you do, watch out!

In The Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson, we learn that “Because of it’s desire to give the gifts that it’s body provided, and because of its willingness to be used on Earth for the highest good before entering the hunting grounds of spirit, Buffalo did not readily stampede and run from hunters.”

To many North American tribes, Buffalo was the medicine of prayer and abundance. Although they believed that all animals are sacred, White Buffalo was considered the most sacred and when it appeared, a sign that prayers were being answered.

The legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman tells how she brought the gift of the Medicine pipe to the Lakota tribe. The pipe bowl represented the feminine aspect of life. The pipe stem represented the masculine entering and seeding the feminine. Natural Tobacco, an herb with both masculine and feminine energies, represented connection to the divine energy of the Great Mystery in the coming together of male and female. The smoke rising from the pipe when used in this time-honored way is prayer made visible as it ascends to Great Spirit.

“The medicine of Buffalo is prayer, gratitude and praise for that which has been received. Buffalo medicine is also knowing that abundance is present when all relations are honored as sacred, and when gratitude is expressed to every living part of creation.” –The Medicine CardsJamie Sams & David Carson

Not quite the way we tend to think of “cows,” is it? And yet when you penetrate to the essence of the astrological symbolism for the sign of Taurus, it’s obvious that the Celtic ancestors experienced Oxen in much the same way as the North American tribes experience buffalo.

Peacefulness, filled with reverence and gratitude; self assurance coming from worry-free management of resources which creates abundance and prosperity. These are all attributes of a person whose nature is strongly influenced by this sign in a positive way.

Where could the downside of this archetype even be, we might ask?

Well, you could think of what happened in the slaughter of the buffalo…

The demise or imprisonment of North American Plains tribes on reservations was accomplished as their principle food supply disappeared. Gluttony and greed burned at fever pitch while thousands upon thousands of buffalo were shot and skinned to make winter coats to be sold in the cities, creating the fortunes (if you call that a “fortune”) of the European hunters.

From 1873 for a decade, it’s estimated that commercial hide hunting outfits killed from 2,000 to 100,000 animals a day. The slaughter of the buffalo, who are considered a keystone species, left the prairie ecosystem sadly off kilter. The coming of the railroad, dividing up of the land and unsustainable farming methods all led to the Dust Bowl storms of the 1930’s.

Old timers remember such things as chickens roosting at midday because dust storms made the sky so dark the chickens thought it was night; or a truck being blown 30 to 40 feet down a street! Not to mention it being impossible to keep houses clean… ﻿http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/index.html﻿

Or you can think about fracking, clear cutting etc. (remembering that each of us has Taurus represented somewhere in our chart.)

So we can conclude that someone strongly influenced by Taurus energy could, on the negative side, experience being caught up in materialistic concerns at the expense of emotional and spiritual considerations; would be overlooking the experience of gratitude for what has been given in focusing on what they don’t have; could be indulging in hoarding and gluttony and in so doing, working themselves to death, possibly misusing a natural gift of tremendous physical strength; or could be just plain lazy, leeching off the efforts of others. In considering the negative aspect of this sign we could also consider one of history’s most infamous Taureans, Adolph Hitler, a leader who came to power at a time when the people of his country felt poor and needy.

But let’s reel back to the positive side, the essence, of all of this again.

Isn’t gratitude, I mean genuine GRATITUDE, one of the most beautiful of all human experiences? And the simple, uncomplicated state of REVERENCE for life?

And doesn't this attitude lead to true abundance?

Relaxing in an unspoiled natural environment, or perhaps listening to beautiful music, dancing, eating delicious and nutritious food, touching and being touched sensitively and lovingly, reveling in the sensual pleasure of love-making, acquiring all the necessary resources to support all of these activities, these are the things thata balanced Taurus does.

In this case, what a nice calm, artistic, self-assured and re-assuring, patient, forgiving person to be around, eh? Am I lucky to be married to one of these creatures or what!

Let me leave you now, with this poem from the Medicine Cards.

Buffalo… You bring us, The gifts of life.

Hear our prayers, Smoke rising Like Phoenix,

We are reborn, Within the sacred words.

– Jamie Sams and David Carson

Recommended reading:Medicine Cards – book and cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson, available from AmazonBuffalo Woman Comes Singing by Brooke Medicine Eagle, available from Amazon. You’ll find a deeply inspiring version of the legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman in this book.

Author

LARK was born and grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa and came to Canada at the age of eighteen to study at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. A lifetime traveler, and a singer-song writer, she has lived on four continents and in nine countries including the USA, the Czech Republic and China. It has given her many opportunities to pursue her passion—studying people.

Western Astrology came into her life in 1973 through a group of friends running a natural foods restaurant. Her first reaction was, “You’ve gotta be kidding!” But since she was already naturally curious about people’s personalities, it didn’t take long for her to become intrigued with the subject.